Nutcracker And The Four Realms: Stay In The Uncanny Valley, Please

The Nutcracker And The Four Realms is a fantasy adventure film directed by Lasse Hallstrom and Joe Johnson. The plot sees troubled outsider Clara (Mackenzie Foy), venture into a strange world in search of a key to one of her late mother’s possessions.

This film is bizarre, it is like it too a good look at Alice In Wonderland and decided to copy it but make it even more convoluted and odd. There is an underlying sinisterness to this world and this film in generally that I can’t quite put my finger on, but there is definitely something off about it.

The CGI does not help the film at all, it ends up looking all a bit too obviously fake and the uncanniness of it all becomes jarring and off-putting the more you are exposed to it.

The only positive I have for the film is that its basic premise and world feel interesting, like there is a fascinating tale to tell there. However, the film as a whole fails to delivery on this and instead churns out yet another mindless, soulless, big-screen CGI fest. The acting is likewise as wooden, with several big-name actors clearly only here for the money.

The big third act twist where one of the key characters turns out to be evil is one of the most obvious reveals I have ever seen in all my years watching films, and I understand the audience for this would be mostly children but come on Disney have some respect for your audience. They are not all mindless and as the final numbers show they refuse to eat your off brand, out of date, cliché riddled, fantasy slop anymore. Do better!

Overall, though there is a sliver of promise here, it is quickly crushed under a mountain of awful CGI, pay check performances and disturbing feeling. Utter trash.

Pros.

There is some promise

It is watchable

Cons.

There is something wrong with it

The CGI is overused and off-putting

The performances are awful

The plot assumes that the audience are brain dead

The twist

1/5

Reviewed by Luke

Playing With Fire: John Cena Learns To Cry

Playing With Fire is a family comedy film directed by Andy Fickman. The plot sees a group of smoke dodgers look after three children for a few days and finding out that they are more work than they bargained for.

Will this film win awards? No it won’t. Will it be the best film you will see all year? No again. Will it make you smile? Yes, it will and is that not the most important thing?

I put this film on looking for some wholesome entertainment and I found just that. The comedy is quite good, there are a few laugh inducing moments throughout the film, but mainly you find yourself just smiling at the wholesome fun of it. For me, the slapstick comedy of the film, mainly done by John Cena (who is also the lead), did not really work. It felt juvenile and even then quite base, on the whole Keegan-Michael Key and John Leguizamo steal the show comedically.

The plot was nothing new, it was all fairly standard the twist about the kids is fairly obvious and the decision at the end is signposted from the start of the film, so neither feel surprising. If you are looking for a strong plot then this is not the film for you, it took things that you have seen before and did then again well enough to be entertaining.

I enjoyed the wholesomeness of this film and watching it defiantly improved my mood.

Overall, far from perfect, but it will entertain you and make you smile

Pros.

The comedy

The wholesomeness

The ending is sweet

Cons.

The plot is fairly been there done that and the plot twists and turns are obvious

The slapstick doesn’t work and feels too dumb

Cena is a weak lead

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

SpongeBob SquarePants, Sponge On The Run: Another Feather In Paramount’s Cap

SpongeBob SquarePants The Movie: Sponge On The Run is an animated family film directed by Tim Hill. The plot sees SpongeBob’s (Tom Kenny), beloved pet snail Gary be snailnapped. As such SpongeBob and Patrick (Bill Fagerbakke), must set out on a quest to get him back.

I enjoyed this film immensely, far more than I thought I would. I have not seen SpongeBob in years, but I did use to like it when I was a teen.

My one complaint of this film would be that the animation is ugly, and quite jarring if you go in expecting the old-style SpongeBob animation like I did. The issue with the animation was that it looked too fake, too CGI, and when they added in real world live action elements it became trapped in the uncanny valley.

I really enjoyed the story of the film. I liked the feeling of finality it had to it, I know there is plenty more SpongeBob content on the way, but it was still nice. Seeing all of SpongeBob’s friends talking about how much he meant to them was a touching moment, and the reveals of how they all met was a good pay off for long-time fans.

The highlight of the film for me was the humour and the cameos. The humour often skewed older, a lot of the jokes and references I feel kids off today would not understand, but they made me laugh. I have always enjoyed the absurdist nature of SpongeBob as a show. Furthermore the cameos were terrific though only brief, Danny Trejo leaves a strong impression as El Diablo and Snoop Dogg has a nice little musical number that livens up the first act; of course Keanu Reeves as Sage is magnificent, but that goes without saying at this point.

Overall, this feels like a love letter to the show itself, it feels like it is done with care, it will make you laugh, and the ending will make you cry. Definitely one of the better SpongeBob films.

Pros.

The tribute to Stephen Hillenberg

The trial scene

Matt Berry

The humour

The cameos

Cons.

The animation is horrendous

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Wolfwalkers: Never Cage Something That Is Wild

Wolfwalkers is an animated fantasy film directed by Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart. The plot sees a girl and her father move to an Irish hamlet in the 1600’s to kill wolves and to start a new life. However said girl Robyn (Honour Kneafsey), finds that there is more to the wolves than any of the towns people know and that the pack is being controlled by a mother daughter Wolfwalker duo, who she soon makes friends with.

This film is a heartbreaker, the plot won’t leave a dry line in the house. It has so many layers to it many of them deeply sad it makes for a very melancholic watch. The later scenes between Robyn and her Dad (Sean Bean), are particularly hard to watch, when he keeps making the situation worse and worse before he realises the error of his ways.

I enjoyed the friendship between Robyn and Mebh ‘Og Mac Tire (Eva Whittaker), I thought it was nice to see their friendship develop over the course of the film and to watch them grow up during such a difficult time period, I’m sure there was a metaphor in there somewhere. I thought this part of the story and its innocence nicely contrasted with the more adult moments.

Finally, I thought it was nice to see a return to 2D animation. It has been too long, and it looked really beautiful throughout, you could tell a lot of work had gone into it and it really helped the film to standout amongst the 2020 animation landscape.

Overall, a beautifully thoughtful and heart breakingly sad animated film that you owe it to yourself to see.

Pros.

A return to 2D animation

The friendship between the two girls

The emotional beats

The father daughter relationship

The look at Irish/Celtic mythology

Cons.

It is desperately sad

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Over The Moon: Emotionally Prepare Yourself For This One

Over The Moon is an animated fantasy film directed by Glen Keane. The plot sees Fei Fei (Cathy Ang), struggle with her father moving on after the death of her mum, so she ventures to the moon to prove that love is eternal and forever, based on the notion of the Chinese Folktale of the moon goddess and her lost love.

Comparing this to Pearl Studios other recent feature Abominable, this is the worse of the two. My main complaint of the film is that it is just too sad, it is depressing especially for a kid’s film and I left it feeling bummed out. I understand a lot of kid’s films deal with dark themes but this one fails to balance the tone; the songs and the bright colourful characters aren’t enough.

That said the songs are probably the best part of this film, moon goddess Chang’e (Phillipa Soo), has a number of great songs that are really fun and lively; and also impossible not to dance along to. Chang’e is probably the best of the supporting cast, who are mostly wasted in forgettable minor roles. This film has people like Sandra O, Ken Jeong and John Cho in it, but it barely uses them.

Also there is something about the animation style that I just don’t like, I think the character models look a bit too CGI, a bit too clean, there is something quite uncanny about them that I found disconcerting over time.

Overall, quite an emotional story that will connect with some more than other, though it doesn’t balance its tone and ends up feeling depressing. Likewise it wastes its talented cast and has some iffy animation.

Pros.

The songs

Chang’e/ Philippa Soo

Trying to have a mature conversation in a kid’s film

Cons.

The animation is off

It is depressing

It wastes its talented cast

2.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Witches (2020): Suitable For Kids?

The Witches (2020) is a family fantasy horror film directed by Robert Zemeckis. The plot follows a young boy (Jahzir Kadeem Bruno), who discovers that Witches are very real after he and his Grandmother (Octavia Spenser), become targets.

This is not like the other film version in a number of ways, there is a clear effort to set this one apart from the other adaption as well as the book version, there is a lot of added material that is not in the book or other film. While not all of this new stuff works, I am glad they added new scenes and plot lines as it allows this film to feel like it stands on its own rather than just being another remake.

There are also a lot of things in this film that I question whether they are appropriate for a children’s film. There are mentions to things like suicide, which is used as a sort of joke, as well as the arms scene which I would specifically draw light to. The arms scene is actually quite scary, there is something about the uncanny valley nature of the scene that adds to it and makes it scarier, it looks like something out of the recent IT films only better done.

I didn’t like the ending, I thought having them all stay mice doesn’t really work and pushes the film into a ridiculous territory that makes it end on more of a jokey note, which cheapens the entire experience.

Octavia Spenser is terrific and makes the film as well.

Pros.

Spenser

The new additions

The arms scenes/ some genuine scares

Cons.

Not really suitable for kids

The ending is laughably bad

The supporting cast, namely Tucci is given nothing to do.

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

Casper: Addams Family Shared Universe?

Casper is a fantasy family comedy film directed by Brad Silberling, based on the Harvey Comics character of the same name. The plot sees single father James Harvey (Bill Pullman), and his daughter Kat (Christina Ricci), move into an old mansion only to find that it is full on ghosts, some more friendly than others.

This film feels like a good accompaniment to Ricci’s Addams Family films, a natural triple bill if ever you were so inclined. Stylistically, again quite similar.

I enjoyed the friendship between Casper (Malachi Pearson), and Kat I found it to be sweet and deeply endearing, likewise when they shared that dance together at the end of the film, I found that to be a cheer worthy moment. I think the biggest asset of this film is its hopeful tone, it really makes it a joy to watch.

As far as child actors go, I think Ricci gives a good performance, you buy her as the sad little girl. Bill Pullman is very believable as the failing single father who is in mourning but is trying to keep things together for his daughter’s sake, I enjoyed his arc and thought his reunion with his dead wife was a sweet moment.

Overall, if you don’t mind the dated effects, which to me added to the charm, this is quite a sweet endearing seasonal watch.

Pros.

Pullman

The emotional character works

The friendship between Casper and Kat

Cons.

It has some pacing issues

The non-Casper ghosts are overplayed

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

Scooby Doo And The Goblin King: The Return Of Tim Curry

Scooby Doo And The Goblin King is an animated family mystery film directed by Joe Sichta. The plot sees Shaggy (Casey Kasem) and Scooby (Frank Welker), go on a magical quest to defeat an evil Wizard and save Halloween.

Unlike others, that have strayed too far from the formula, I think this film benefits form ditching the standard story structure of a Scooby Doo film and going fully out there. I enjoyed seeing Scooby Doo fully explore the concept of magic, I liked seeing classic creeps like The headless horseman make an appearance and I appreciated the larger world and mythology this film tried to set up; I would like to see it explored further at a later date.

When I heard that Tim Curry was returning to voice a character in this film I was immediately expecting big things, he was after all one of the best things about The Witches Ghost. So, I was saddened when he only had a small part. He does his best with what he is given, and he does make the Goblin King memorable.

The villain is okay, serviceable enough to keep the plot running in one direction but not strong enough to carry any real weight. I feel the story itself buckles under all it is trying to do and crosses a line where it becomes more spectacle than anything else.

Overall, this was one of the better Scooby Doo films of this era (the late 00’s), it is up there with Zombie Island and Witches Ghost, however all that it tries to do weighs the film down a bit too much and it just can’t live up to its high ambitions.

Pros.

Tim Curry

Fully going for the supernatural

The headless horseman scenes

It is a lot of fun

Cons.

Tim Curry only has a very small part

The film becomes spectacle and falls apart after a point

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

Early Man: The Origins Of Man United

Early Man is a British stop motion animated film directed by Nick Park. The plot follows a group of stone age people as they are challenged by a bronze age civilisation to a game of football to decide the fate of their valley home.

I will admit I have a bit of a love hate relationship with Aardman and their animations, I really didn’t like Chicken Run and I enjoyed Wallace and Gromit when I was young, but I have not thought about those films in years. So, going into this I had low expectations that were lowered even further when I heard the mixed reviews, but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with this film.

I enjoyed the story quite a bit and found that the time period leant itself quite well to Aardman’s signature animation style. I thought the characters all had a great deal of rootability, and you really wanted to see them win the game. This film manages to capture the plucky underdog spirit to a tee.

The voice cast didn’t add much to proceedings as I feel like anyone could have played those characters, the voice actors themselves were not memorable, which could be a good or bad thing depending on your viewpoint. Out of the cast I thought Maisie Williams shone the most, her character of Goona was fun and memorable and Williams managed to pull of an accent for the full run time somewhat convincing; much more convincingly then her GOT co-star Sophie Turner in the last X-Men film, however.

Overall, a fun film that really made me consider Aardman that bit more, maybe it has converted me to their cause- time will tell.

Pros.

Fun and accessible

The setting leant itself well to stop motion

Maisie Williams

Capturing the underdog spirit

Cons.

The voice cast weren’t very strong

It felt a bit bloated

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

Chill Out Scooby Doo: Casual, Seemingly Random, International Abduction

Chill Out Scooby Doo is an animated family mystery film directed by Joe Sichta. The plot sees the Mystery Gang’s holiday in Paris hijacked when Shaggy (Casey Kasem), and Scooby (Frank Welker), get kidnapped and taken to the Himalayas to act as bait for someone looking to trap the abdominal snowman.

So, I will admit I love the yeti/abdominal snowman so yes I might view this film a bit more favourably that I otherwise would have, though I have tried to control my bias of course for the purposes of this review.

This film feels like a return to the old ways of Scooby Doo, there is just one monster, there are no attempts to be meta (though in moderation those are a good thing), and there are no needless cameos. It is just the gang hunting a monster and then demasking it at the end.

Hell, I’ve reviewed quite a lot of these at this point and I have to officially say I have gone full circle. I started off apricating the Scooby Doo formula, then I grew sick of it and now after seeing how badly a lot of the Scooby Doo films turn out that don’t stick to the classic structure I am back to apricating it once again.

An issue I had with this film is the side story stuff. The High Lama felt crammed in to pad out the runtime, if done well this could have been like an extended version of one of the classic episodes, but no they had to stuff more in. Furthermore, as has been a recurring complaint, the Tibetan characters are little more than stereotypes and character cliches, which just feels irritating and lazy.

Overall, it has strong parts and weak parts, at its best it is a return to the classic formula and its worst it is still using the same old stereotypes and can be consider a bit offensive.

Pros.

The yeti

A return to the classic form

An interesting and not obvious mystery

Cons.

The stereotypes

The side story and characters

3/5

Reviewed by Luke